How to be a social purpose leader in 2013

January 11, 2013June 11, 2017

Paul Klein, contributor at Forbes Magazine published an interesting blog on how all business in 2013 will need to have a social purpose. Looking for common goals with your stakeholders is key and will differentiate companies from their competitors.

He explains 3 ways to earn your license to operate in 2013.

1. Be a social purpose leader

“Making a meaningful difference starts with a bold goal shared by many and a way forward that is smart, market-based and laser-focused on both better social and business outcomes,” says USAID’s Chief Innovation Officer Maura O’Neill. “Today it is a false dichotomy to think growing businesses can be either or anymore. The ones that will thrive and win the hearts and pocketbooks of consumers will deliver on both.”

2. Give more control to local communities and stakeholders.

You could have local stakeholders develop their own interpretation of how your corporate strategy ought to play out in their communities. Telus, a global telecommunications leader, is “putting decision-making in the hands of local leaders who know their communities best” through TELUS Community Boards located across Canada and in the Philippines, Guatemala, and El Salvador.

3. Build partnerships with the right and the wrong NGOs

“The big opportunity for the truly smart CEO is to focus on the chief strategic challenge and opportunity of this historic moment and engage with whoever can help most: This will include citizen organizations that see the same historic and strategic opportunity,” says Bill Drayton, founder and CEO of Ashoka. “Such partnerships, which are beginning, bring deep, long-term value and the attention of both sides.”